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Thursday, 13 July 2017

Romans Re-based (part 2)

A while back I looked at re-basing my Romans to give them a more sandy-based theme. I've now also decided to give them magnetic bases to make storage easier. So I needed to add suitable movement trays. Here's the next unit, 14 Auxiliaries.

I'd like to offer a little tip about making movement trays... In the past I've bough them ready assembled and then trimmed steel 'paper' to fit inside, then added texture to the edge. However, sometimes this has resulted in a badly fitting, slightly wonky, piece of steel 'paper' (which just annoys me) or perhaps the texture has strayed within the bounds of the tray. Not a big deal to fix but here's my new approach.

Buy the trays unassembled, that is (as shown below) the rim is left unglued.

If you already have the trays then it's simple to slide a modelling knife between the rim and base - just take it steady!

Next, cut a piece of steel 'paper' that is slightly larger than the tray base. I get mine from Tiny Tin Troops - highly recommended.

Peel off the backing paper and firm press the base on. Take care to leave a little overlap around the edge. Give it a minute or two to properly adhere, then trim off the excess with a modelling knife. This gives you a very neat finish.

Next, decorate the rim. I use PVA glue with some fine grit. Paint to match the bases. You may also want to add a little static grass or some tufts. Both the grass and the tufts can be dry-brushed with a light cream colour (e.g. Foundry Boneyard light) to enhance the arid look of the bases and movement trays.

Then it's just a matter of gluing the rim on to the base. I used a few tiny dabs of super glue. Hope that's a useful tip.